This image of Jupiter's white ovals BC and DE was taken by the Galileo spacecraft
Click on image for full size
JPL/NASA
Other White Ovals of Jupiter
White ovals are found all over Jupiter, not just where the classic ovals were
born. See if you can find some of the others for yourself in pictures in the image archive. There are so many white ovals that they don't all have names. The other white ovals near the famous three are named WO1, WO2, and WO3. You can see these in the white oval
train.
Just like the Great Red Spot, clouds inside a white oval spin around a center point. This is just like what a hurricane or tornado on Earth does.
White ovals can last a long time, 40 years or more. But in the end, they shrink down in size until they fade away, or they merge together. It is not often that ovals merge, however. Most often they come close , then push each other away.
Scientists use the motions and activities of these white ovals to understand more about the weather of Jupiter.
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